do want!

I used a nano for the first time today. Someone at the party I went to wanted me to hear a song called “God Is In.” I also listened to Billy Collins reciting his poem Forgetfulness, which made me laugh.

So after playing with this thing for a few minutes, I now officially want need one.

That is all.

recent comments weirdness

FYI,

I’ve temporarily removed the recent comments list from the top of the right hand sidebar. Sometime today the wordpress gnomes added avatars to the recent comments, which was a nice touch as it provided a more readable separation between individual comment indicators. The problem with whatever they did is that it turned the section into a still life. Comments posted following the “upgrade” did not appear, not even after a few hours.

So they’re gone. I’m confident the wordpress machinery will spring quickly to life in order to recitfy this blip. Once that happens, you’ll (I’ll) once again be able to access the lastest in commenty excellence from amongst the numberless horde of serotoninreaders.

Oh, and btw, I still do not have an iPhone.

sound theology

Randy posted about his latest (and last?) experience as his church’s soundman. I commented that I feel his pain. Not so much anymore, I guess, but still. My soundman wounds were all too real and the scars still get sore from time to time.

The purpose of this post is to offer a brief homage to the sound tech for those of you who attend churches that have one of those.

___

At the core of a theology of worship is this simple truth:

The sound tech is the most important member of the band*.

Not the worship leader, not, heaven forefend, the guitar player and certainly not the drummer! You should be aware that the word ‘drummer’ is an acronym for doesn’t read or understand music, money, employment, or reality.

Did I hear you say or think, “but the sound tech isn’t in the band.” Oh yes he/she is, my worship neophyte friend, and don’t you be forgettin’, either! If you are a congregation member only, you may be lulled into thinking that the ‘band’ is that group of men and women up on the chancel or stage or floor or whatever with the instruments and the strong set of pipes. And you may ask yourself, “how did I get here,” and you may also ask yourself “how do they get to sound so good,” and you may say to yourself “they play so well together.”

The band members may play well together, but more likely they do not. If they sound good, the reason is almost certainly to be found behind you or along side you. The person sitting at the sound board is also playing his or her instrument, and playing it well. If the sound person is not playing well, you will know. If, or actually, when the guitar player flubs a chord or misses a note on a solo pass, most people will barely notice. If the sound tech does something as simple as punch a fader up a bit high or turn the wrong knob, everybody in the congregation will notice and almost 100% of the eyes in the hall will instantly turn toward the soundbooth. If you happen to be the sound tech, let me assure you that this will wreck your entire day.

If the soundperson does a tremendous job, and this is the clincher and what makes the sound person more Christ-like than even the pastor most weeks, not one worshiper will say thank you. They’ll all be too busy congratulating the guitar player, or worse, the drummer: neither of whom had squat to do with such a great worship experience. Everybody, that is, except you. You will say thank you because you will have read this post and come to see the light, i. e.:

The sound tech is the most important member of the band.

Do you think I’m being too hard on guitar players and worship leaders?** Well, you may be right. But consider this: I am both a guitar player and worship leader and have been for years. I’ve also been a sound tech. My decision to be a soundtech was prompted by spoiled relationships with previous soundmen in my old church. I thought they were well meaning but inept nincompoops who couldn’t accomplish the simple–simple, I tell you!–task of turning the right thingamajig at the right time. My first time behind a soundboard resulted in screeching speakers and a few screeching congregants and gave me a whole new respect for the most important member of the band.

Love on your sound tech, people. It is the beginning of understanding worship correctly (and despite my tongue in cheekiness, I am not joking about this, not at all).

*Assuming the sound tech is qualified. The qualifications for a sound tech are simple: a heart for worship, and an ear for music.

**Think I’m being too hard on drummers? Such a thing is impossible.

enjoying my freedom

I do not take the fact that we live in a free nation lightly, so please keep that in mind will I revel in that simplest and most rare form of independence: a day off.

What I did today:

Rolled outta bed at 7:34. Sweet! (My daughter wanted to know why I got up so early).

Made breakfast for everybody: eggs (to order, of course), bacon, sausage, lots of coffee, and a side of Entenmann’s frosted devil’s food donuts. Healthy? No. Good? Yes.

Sat around in my bedclothes until 10am.

Showered, got dressed and performed additional sitting around, with a side of blog reading.

Plans call for more sitting around, maybe a walk, followed by a late afternoon picnic at a friend’s place (She and her husband live on R3. You wanted to know that, I can tell).

Hope your Independence Day is truly free.